From Loathing to Love
by HorsegirlJilylover
Summary: James loves Lily, and Lily loathes James. But somehow they end up married! Another version of how Jily came to be. :) ALL CHARACTERS, AND PLACES ARE OWNED BY JK ROWLING, AUTHOR OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES.
1. Something Personal

The train rumbled slowly into the station under the dark, moonless sky. As she stepped off the train, Lily Evans looked harried and anxious, but still beautiful, James Potter thought. He reveled at the way her bright red hair, rivaled only by Arthur Weasleys, flowed like water in the light breeze. Her voice tinkled across the platform as she greeted Hagrid. Suddenly, James noticed that Lily was looking right at him. Well, the death glare would be more accurate. For a moment, he was so overjoyed that she was looking at him, even in loathing, that he forgot why he had followed her to be first off the train in the first place. Oh, right. He was Head Boy now, and perfect Lily Evans was his fellow Head Girl. What a blessing in disguise. As he stepped onto the platform, a smirk lit up his face, and Lily couldn't help but silently admit to herself that James Potter, whatever his arrogance, was pretty damn good looking. The way his hair stuck up everywhere was somewhat endearing, and his eyes were kind, though always teasing. Of course, she would never admit that out loud, except maybe to her best friend, Alice. She shook that thought from her head, and spoke quickly as James drew level with her.

"Ok Potter, I know you don't want to be here anymore than I do –"

"But darling Lily," James cut across her in a would-be seductive voice, "I want to be here with you very much."

His smirk grew into a cocky grin, and Lily had to stop herself from grinding her teeth in annoyance. _Keep calm Lily, just keep your cool. _She thought to herself, eyes shut in concentration. When she opened them again, it was to see James still smirking at her, knowing that she was ready to pop.

Deciding to quit with the formalities, Lily spat,

"Let's just get this over with."

As she turned away, James's face fell visibly. Was she never going to like him? Possibly he could have been too forward, but she really did seem to hate him more than ever before. His summer resolve of finally becoming the man Lily Evans wanted began to fade away.

When the rest of the students started exiting the train, Remus and Sirius saw the best friend's crestfallen stature, and, looking at each other significantly, hurried over. James, hearing their approach said,

"She loathes me. She truly hates me, with every cell of her being. I don't know what to do."

"I'm sure it's not like that." Remus said comfortingly.

"Ah, well, there's lots of other pretty girls, mate." Sirius replied bracingly. Remus shot him a dirty look. James turned to face them, not meeting their eyes.

"Be reasonable James. It's the first night back, and my guess is your first comment wasn't all that mature." Remus consoled, stepping on Sirius' foot to stop him from making another insensitive remark. Sirius winced, and shut his mouth.

James, now blushing slightly, nodded his head. He really had screwed it up, hadn't he? All he's ever wanted since 4th year was to be the One for Lily. But he had failed miserably, and now she would probably never even give him a chance.

"James, look at me."

He looked up at Sirius's sharp tone. Apparently he had finally decided to be helpful.

"Pull yourself together! This right here is not the leader of the Marauders who never gives up on anything. You're not a weak boy who gives up at rejection. You're Prongs! Our leader! So what if she hates you tonight? Who knows, she may love you tomorrow, girls are so unpredictable that way. So buck up and get her! Haha, did you notice my pun? Buck up? Prongs?" Snorting, Sirius trialed off. Lupin took over again.

"Look, James, sleep on it, let her cool off, and try again tomorrow. I still think you can be a man for her, so don't make me bet you on it."

James, who never failed to win a bet, no matter how much cheating ensued, grinned at this. With a start, he heard his name called from across the station.

"Potter! Get over here and help me!" Lily yelled angrily.

Head Boy duties. He'd forgotten. As he said good- bye to Remus and Sirius, his heart was a little bit lighter. Maybe he hadn't completely failed after all.

"You could try starting now!" Remus called after him, and he decided that that was exactly what he was going to do.

As James strutted over, Lily thought he looked different. It took her a minute to pinpoint the change. His face was more relaxed, and his walk wasn't as arrogant. He looked kinder. James noticed her confused expression, and was about to make a smart remark when he bit his tongue. _No, James. No more of that. _Instead, he asked,

"What can I do to help?"

Lily's shock was even more apparent at his genuine tone. Then she eyed him suspiciously.

"What are you up to, Potter?"

"Nothing. I swear I'm just trying to do my job."

For reasons she couldn't fathom, Lily believed him. He really did want to try and help. But then another thought entered her mind.

"You're just doing this to try and get me to go out with you, right? Sirius made you a bet, didn't he?" she accused.

James, blushing ever so slightly in the darkness, replied,

"Sirius didn't bet me anything."

Lily noticed how he avoided the first part of her question, but was distracted by a little second year girl you was tugging on her sleeve, looking nervous to be so close to a seventh year.

"Um, excuse me Miss? How do the second years get to the castle? We took the boats last year, but somebody told me it was only for first years and we're confused…."

She motioned to a group of twelve-year-olds behind her, all looking lost and nervous, and sticking close to one another. Lily threw a dirty look at James, silently blaming him for causing her to lose track of everything they were supposed to be doing. Then she faced the girl, crouching down so they were at eye level.

"I'm so sorry; I should have told you that before. You guys are going to take the carriages over there-" Lily pointed to where the other students were flocking, "And ride up to the castle." Her voice was kind and reassuring, and the girl looked relieved.

"Thank you!" She said, and then ran off to tell her friends.

James looked at Lily in awe. He always knew that that she was kind, but he'd never seen her interact with kids like that, in almost a motherly fashion. Lily straightened up, and caught sight of James' expression.

"What is with you tonight? Actually, don't answer that."

James had no intention of answering the question, but didn't bother to tell her that.

"Let's just get going. We need to make sure everybody gets a carriage up to the school, and then check the train for forgotten luggage. After that, we send a message to Professor McGonagall, and take the Head carriage up to school."

Feeling slightly nonplussed, James nodded uncertainly and followed Lily's lead, directing new students towards Hagrid and everybody else to the gates. Lily took one half of the train, and James took the other half, checking each compartment for lost items, or a student had fallen asleep. Once they were done, the train steaming away into the night, Lily raiser her wand, and, without muttering a single syllable, sent a messenger patronus up to the castle. She caught James staring at her again.

"Well don't look so gob smacked." Lily called lightly, as she started for the last carriage. "We learned how to do that last year."

"I know." James said hurriedly, catching up with her brisk pace. "But not a lot of people were able to do it."

"I practiced over the summer. Drove Petunia crazy, mind you. For fun, I sent one through her window. I'm pretty sure the whole street heard her scream."

Her silhouette shook a little as she chuckled in the darkness. Marveling at how sweet her laugh was, James suddenly realized that she had just told him something very personal. Apparently, she realized it too, for Lily's face had turned as bright as her hair. They clambered inside in silence, and as the horseless carriage started for the school, Lily stayed quiet, looking out the window and not speaking till they reached the oak front doors.


	2. Red as a Rose

After the welcoming feast, there was a meeting with all the prefects, Head Boy and Girl, McGonagall and Dumbledore. Lily was just getting up from the Gryffindor table to head to over when she saw the back of James' shaggy head walking towards the doors of the Great Hall, accompanied by the rest of the marauders.

"James!" she called after him.

James turned, surprised to find that it was Lily who had spoken. She normally called him 'Potter'. Sirius, who had also noticed the change, grinned, and poked James.

"Shove off, Padfoot." James said, though he couldn't help smiling as he started towards Lily.

"What's up, Evans?" he said lightly, hoping to stay on her good side. Apparently, Lily still wasn't convinced at his attitude change, because when she spoke, her brisk voice wasn't quite as commanding as usual, and her face showed a hint of uncertainty.

"Where are you going? We've got the head meeting with Dumbledore now."

"Oh, right, I forgot."

"So I noticed."

She rolled her eyes, and James grinned at her sarcasm.

"Let me just tell the others-"

"Remus knew about it, he already left with the rest of your little gang. Why you were made Head Boy and not him, I still cannot fathom." Lily cut across him, giving him a reproving look. _As if it's my fault_ James thought to himself.

"You know, when I told him, he didn't seem all that upset. Or even surprised really. It's almost like he knew it was coming." James confessed.

Lily stared at him, confused. Why would Remus not be disappointed at James's appointment as Head Boy? He'd expected to get it, Lily knew. Of all the marauders, he was the only one Lily was friends with, and they talked about it the end of the previous school year. Sure, Remus was humble enough, but to act like he knew it was coming? Lily mulled over all this as she and James headed towards the side door that led to the room where the meeting was being held. James held open the door, for her, and she walked through it without noticing, still deep in thought.

"Ah, Lily and James. I was wondering when our Head Boy and Girl were going to turn up." Dumbledore said genially from the corner where he was standing with Professor McGonagall, his eyes twinkling. Lily blushed bright red as she realized that they were the last two to arrive. What an impression to make on the first night. Even the Slytherin prefects had gotten there ahead of her, and they were always late. She hurried to the last seats in the back, James following her, her face still very pink.

"First off, I would like to congratulate you all for taking on this important role of leadership. Whether you are a prefect for the first year, or our new Heads, you will be key in the running of this school. Oh yes," he said gravely to a 6th year Hufflepuff, who had been smirking at his friend skeptically. "When Professor McGonagall and I select the prefects, we look at many factors, such as your leadership skills, the amount of influence you have over your peers, and of course, your ability to cope with stress and academics. You will see in your orientation packets, which Professor McGonagall is so kindly handing out, a short introduction and a list of responsibilities and duties for your assigned post. There is also a page of questions that seem to pop up every year, so hopefully you can answer them before you have to ask. Please take a moment now to look through your packets."

Instantly, Lily was scanning through in beginning paragraph, barely even blinking. James, who had not even opened his sheaf of papers, watched Lily instead. He'd seen that look before, when she was studying for exams, an expression which had been magnified by ten leading up to OWLs. It was a rather adorable face, actually, the way she played with a lock of her hair and her eyes expanded and. Her green eyes flashed as she looked up at him suddenly, exasperation on her face when she took in how unfocused he was.

"James. Read."

Her vexation turned into shock when he immediately looked away from her and started reading, apparently very absorbed. So great was her surprise that she was still staring when McGonagall walked over to see how they were doing, and said, in a tart, amused voice,

"Ms. Evans, may I ask what is so fascinating about the back of Mr. Potters head?"

A few of the older prefects around her tittered, and Lily's face was scarlet once again.

"Nothing, Professor, I was just helping James with the… he didn't quite understand…. He needed…"

Lily trailed off, mortified, heat still very apparent in her cheeks.

"Well," McGonagall said, "As long as it's to do with his head duties, and not with his hair care products."

And with that, the Deputy headmistress glided back to the front with Professor Dumbledore, who was smiling widely, other students laughing openly.

"Now, are there any further questions about anything you may have read in the orientation packets, or any other matter that you are not sure about?" Dumbledore invited.

After a few inquiries from the newest prefects, and McGonagall had sorted out the first schedule for patrolling the corridors, they were dismissed.

"Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans, would you please stay for a moment?" McGonagall called as the rest of the prefects filed out. They made their way to the front of the room, not talking, Lily still embarrassed.

"As our Head Boy and Girl this year, you two have been given a great responsibility."

Lily perked up at Dumbledore's words, listening intently.

"A great deal will be expected of you. From tonight onwards, you two will be in charge of organizing all of the night and weekend patrols with the prefects of each house. Also, any student that you think needs disciplined you will need to report to myself of Professor McGonagall. The prefects are supposed to report to you any detentions they give out, and you, in turn, will record and file them, and give a weekly report. If there is a child that is in need of firmer action, you must schedule a meeting with their head of house and myself so we can take it further if needed. This, obviously, includes anyone within your own house, as well."

At this last statement, Dumbledore's ice blue eyes pierced James, and he knew why.

"You may be wondering why I have appointed the two of you to be heads together and rightly so. I will confess that there are some that question my decision. However, I must ask you to trust me. If I were to tell you everything, it would ruin my wonderful plan!"

This made Lily laugh. Dumbledore truly was an amazing old wizard but she did wonder at him sometimes. His plans hardly ever fell through, though, so Lily's worry was eased.

"Finally, I want to quickly show you the head's office that will be yours to use this year. This is where you will file the disciplinary reports, post schedules, and generally spend time when you want to relax, or have a quiet place to work on homework."

They all said goodnight to Professor McGonagall, and Dumbledore escorted them to their new Head Office which was on the first floor, near the heart of the castle. After taking a quick peek in and assuring him that everything from the parchment a quills provided to the covers on the couches were more than satisfactory, they also bade him farewell, and headed up the marble staircase to the common room, still clutching their packets. Lily was pondering everything she had taken in about being Head Girl, but her mind kept wandering back to James. He was acting oddly, she thought, and she was determined to find out why. Tonight alone, he had caused her to blush more than he had managed in the last 3 years. Lily heard a snuffle, and looked up to realize that they were in front of the Fat Lady already, who apparently had a cold. She stood there for a moment, not sure what to do, when James broke the silence,

"Aren't you going to give her the password?"

Lily stood sill with her mouth open. For the first time during her Hogwarts years, she didn't know the new password. She looked to James helplessly. Smirking, he turned to the sniveling portrait.

"_Filigrano_."

"Correct." The Fat Lady replied, staring wonderingly as Lily's red face.

_Damn it!_ Lily thought. He'd made her blush again! What was wrong with her?

"It was in the packet. Lady's first?" James offered, stepping back to let her pass through.

Lily, now to the point of tears, was furious. She had never been humiliated so much in her life, and now it was at the hands of James Potter. His gentlemanly gesture, for some reason, made her even madder, and she stalked through the empty common room off towards the girls' staircase, trying not to let James see her eyes, which were close to spilling over.

"You looked lovely tonight, Lily. As red as a rose, from head to toe." James called to her as she put her foot on the bottom step. That was the last straw. That one arrogant remark put her over the edge. Turning to face him, tears now pouring down her cheeks, she yelled,

"You, James Potter, are a bull headed, ignorant ass! How you live with yourself I don't know! Now, if you want to keep you tongue inside your head, I suggest you shut up right now!"

And spinning on her heal, she fled up the staircase. James' feeble attempt at a goodnight was lost in his throat. All evening, he had tried to be polite, and nice, and a gentleman to her. He had tried, harder than ever before, to show her that was wasn't the arrogant toe rag that she had once before accused him of being. But when they had entered the deserted common room, she had looked so cute, trying so hard not to let him get to her. But what he didn't understand was why his on stupid comment had put her over. Normally he could throw insults at her all day and she wouldn't so much as bat an eyelid. Girls are very confusing, James decided wearily as he headed off for his own dormitory. As he passed the window, he heard a night owl hoot in the distance.


	3. Unsettling Discoveries

Bright light pierced through Lily's closed eyelids, causing her to awake, and blink rapidly, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She sat up sleepily, and saw that her best friend and roommate, Alice Prewett standing over her, fully dressed.

"Earth to Lily! Are you awake yet? Oh my goodness, are you ok?"

"Why, what's wrong?" Lily asked, immediately alert.

"Umm, you. First off, class starts in 20 minutes."

"WHAT?" Lily looked at her watch, screeched, and jumped out of bed, scrambling for clothes. Her normal morning routine of a shower, hair and make-up, a good breakfast and a quick review of her books before class flew from her mind and she pulled her robes over her head. Alice sat on the side of Lily's bed, watching the chaos with amusement.

"Secondly, you look a wreck. How much sleep did you get?"

"Not much." Lily admitted as she ran a brush through her messy hair. "I couldn't sleep." Truthfully, it was thoughts of James Potter that had kept her awake, tossing and turning till sunrise. She had decided that she possibly had been too harsh on him. He really did seem to be trying harder this year to be nice to her. Maybe, just maybe, this wasn't some new practical joke or bet. It was only when she resolved to give James another chance that she had finally fallen into a light slumber.

Alice raised her eyes brows skeptically.

"Lily Evans, not sleeping on the first night back? I can't imagine that you were too excited to start class, considering how much you slept in. So what did keep you up?"

Blushing in her mirror, Lily muttered, "James Potter."

"Ha, I knew it!" Alice crowed. "I heard you guys shouting down in the common room. You were probably up all night thinking of a hundred different ways to strangle him, right?"

Lily didn't want to admit what she had really been thinking, but she couldn't lie to Alice, either. However, that didn't make the truth any less humiliating. Turing slowly to face her fellow Gryffindor, Lily replied in the negative, her cheeks still red.

"Not exactly."

Alice's face was hard to read. First she looked disappointed for being wrong, and then suspicious.

"So what were you thinking about him, then?"

Unable to keep it to herself anymore, Lily spilled the details.

"And I have no idea why, but suddenly I find him rather attractive." She concluded several minutes later, her face once again flaming.

A spurt of laughter that was quickly stifled slipped through Alice's pursed lips. The smirk on her face was evident, though she tried hard to hide it. Lily moaned.

"Ok, whatever you want to say, just spit it out. Let me hear the worst!" she complained.

"Finally!" Alice cried! "You and James have been fighting your whole Hogwarts career. I knew at some point you were going to find him cute! I was right!"

Lily gaped at her.

"You what? You knew? But I thought you hated him too! All those stupid things he does, and all the girls he gets to go after him just so he can have the attention? You can't be serious!"

"Lily," Alice sighed, and spoke gently. "He did all those things for you. He wanted your attention. In fact, he came to me at the end of last year, and asked me what he needed to do to get you to like him."

"You mean you set me up?" Lily jumped off the bed, looking at her best friend incredulously.

"No, no I didn't! I just gave him some tips. I told him everything you told me that you didn't like about him. I haven't spoken to him since! He must have done something right, though, considering you suddenly want to go out with him."

"I never said that!" Lily fumed. "In fact, I really don't want to go out with him! I still hate him, you know!"

Alice rolled her eyes and stood up off Lily's bed. "Whatever you say, Lils. It doesn't change the fact that you've blushed more talking about him just know than I think you have in your whole life, and he's also now made you late, not once, but twice."

Lily's eyes widened and an odd sound escaped from her mouth.

"Alice I'm going to kill you!"

She swung her school bag over her shoulder, grabbed Alice's hand, and dragged her down the stairs to their first lesson, Transfiguration. _So much for a smooth first day back. _Lily thought to herself.

"Late again, Ms. Evans. I never thought you and Ms. Prewett to be ones for gossip, but apparently something has come up that trumps for first NEWT Transfiguration lesson?" Professor McGonagall said sharply as the two 7th years entered the classroom.

"Sorry, professor, it was my fault." Alice said hastily. "I forgot to set our alarm, and we slept in by accident."

McGonagall narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but let the subject drop. Lily and Alice slipped into their seats while the lecture continued. Alice nudged her red headed friend, and jerked her head over to where the Marauders were sitting, and more specifically, towards James. Lily glared in response. Just then, James looked back at her, and she noticed how his hair was swept to the side, tidier than usual. _It really isn't all that bad___she thought, considering how it partially hid his eyebrows, therefore bringing out his brown eyes. Scrutinizing them now, she realized that his eyes were actually quite warm. They reminded her of being cuddled up under a blanket by the fire on a snowy day. Then another image entered her mind. It was very similar to the one before, except for one addition. James was cuddled up next to her, his arms wrapped protectively around her waist, holding her close. For one fleeting moment, Lily wished it was real.

"Ms. Evans!"

Lily's eyes snapped to the front, where Professor McGonagall was gazing at her severely.

"That is quite enough! I've called on you twice now, and you have clearly been not paying a bit of attention looking at your blank page of notes." Sure enough, as Lily looked around, everybody else's paper was half filled with writing. "This is your only warning. Next will be a detention." McGonagall finished, before calling on another student for the answer that Lily had missed. Meanwhile, Lily was dumbfounded. Detention? She'd never, ever had to be threatened with detention before, much less had one. What was going on with her? She shook her head, attempting to clear her thoughts, and started taking notes.

James once again looked back at Lily. It was odd, he thought. Lily Evans was usually the hardest person to distract, always the most caught up with the day's lesson, and being late was unheard of. He wondered what was on her mind this morning that was keeping her thoughts elsewhere.

Alice watched her friend closely for the rest of the lesson. Something was definitely different about her. Lily's eyes kept flickering to James' back every few seconds, though Alice could see that she was trying hard not to look at him. The dark haired girl decided that no matter what Lily said, there was something going on between her and James. There just had to be.

Lily hardly spoke for the rest of the day. She avoided answering questions, kept silent during class discussions, and didn't so much as think of James Potter until their first patrol that night. At least, she tried not to. But the funny thing is the harder you try not to think about something, the more you end up thinking about it. Alice didn't press Lily for information. She sensed that Lily had to figure this out on her own, whatever 'this' is.

As she departed from the common room that evening for the head office to start on patrols, her mind wandered once back to the black haired boy. Something was different about him, that was for sure. But what, she couldn't fathom. He was still trying to get her to go out with him, he was still being a jerk to the Slytherins, and he was still arrogant. So what was –

Her thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt and she turned a corner and smacked into the very person that had been occupying her mind.

"There you are. I was just looking for you." James said, his hand running through his hair embarrassedly.

Lily stepped back, looked at him blankly for a second, and then realized what he was talking about.

"Oh, right. Patrols." She said, once again humiliated by the fact that he had caught her off guard.

James silently admired the rosy glow that her cheeks had become. She really did have a beautiful face, though the ever absent (until now, at least) blush highlighted it.

"Shall we get going then?" he asked tentatively, not wanted to make her mad at him again. However, his caution was wasted. Her face turned angry, though it was not directed at him. Lily was mad at herself for letting him have to say what she should have told him.

"Yes, we should go." She turned quickly in her frustration, lost her balance, and fell. But before she could hit the stone floor, something wrapped around her waist and caught her. James helped her to stand up, and kept his arm around her to steady her. Lily, suddenly very aware of how close they were, thought back to the image by the fire, except now the warm embrace was real. To her surprise, it felt just as cozy and comforting as she had imagined. Realizing what she was thinking, she stepped back quickly.

"Thanks. We need to start the patrol. Let's go."

She started off down the corridor again, and James caught a glimpse of her face. The previous anger was all but abated, replaced with a look of confusion.

_Stop it Lily! _She thought to herself. _Pull yourself together! You don't need a man if your life. You've never needed to depend on anybody. It certainly won't start now!_

But as she walked in front of James, she couldn't help but reflect on how much she had enjoyed his arm around her.


End file.
